This invention relates to shoes used by participants in the sport of bowling, and more particularly to bowling shoes that allow participants to customize the ground engagement properties of their shoes.
Each bowler has a unique style that they use during their approach to a bowling lane and during their ball release motion. Moreover, the bowling lanes and approaches are not uniformly conditioned. Thus, bowlers require bowling shoes that can be adjusted to accommodate their particular style and the various surface conditions that can be encountered.
As is known, when a bowler approaches a bowling lane and goes through the throwing motion, a first one of the bowler""s feet performs a sliding function and a second one of the bowler""s feet performs a kicking function. For a right-handed bowler, the left-foot performs the slide function and the right-foot performs the kicking function. During the sliding motion, the heel edge of the slide shoe is stressed when the heel touches the approach. Then, as the sliding motion continues, the stress moves from the heel edge to the heel corner. The durations of the stress on the heel edge and on the heel corner are different for every bowler. For example, the transition to stress on the heel corner occurs more quickly for a bowler sliding a longer distance than for a bowler sliding a shorter distance, and therefore the stress on the heel edge lasts for a shorter time.
One disadvantage of conventional bowling shoes is that a bowler must have many pairs of the conventional bowling shoes in order to be properly prepared for the widely varying approach conditions that are likely to be encountered. Another disadvantage is that conventional bowling shoes are obtained as identical pairs, albeit oppositely configured for the right-foot and the left-foot. Consequently, the ground engaging surface that is common to each shoe of a conventional pair cannot provide optimum performance for the different functions performed by each foot.
The present invention is directed to a bowling shoe that has various options for adjustment or customization. Particularly, the shoe features removable and replaceable slide parts that attach to the tread surface of the sole, and heel edge and heel corner parts that attach to the heel of the shoe. The removable and replaceable slide parts and heel parts can be attached with interlocking hook and pile loop fasteners, by adhesives, or by other known fastening techniques that facilitate interchangeablity. The present invention is also directed to a matched pair of shoes wherein one shoe is intended to be used by a bowler as the xe2x80x9cslide shoe,xe2x80x9d and is combined with a xe2x80x9ckick shoexe2x80x9d on the opposite foot.
The present invention provides ground engaging footwear to be worn concurrently by a biped having a right-foot and a left-foot. The footwear comprises a first shoe adapted to be received on a first one of the right-foot and the left-foot, the first shoe having a first sole, a first heel, and a first set of interchangeable ground engaging features on at least one of the first sole and the first heel; and a second shoe adapted to be received on a second one of the right-foot and the left-foot, the second shoe having a second sole, a second heel, and a second set of interchangeable ground engaging features on at least one of the second sole and the second heel. The first set of features differs from the second set of features.
The present invention also provides a pair of shoes for bowling. The pair of shoes comprises a slide shoe and a kick shoe. The slide shoe includes a first sole and a first heel fixedly attached to the first sole, a frame overlying and being fixedly attached to the first sole, the frame and a portion of the first sole having substantially congruent respective outer perimeters, the frame defining a central aperture, and an interchangeable slide pad being inset within and substantially occluding the central aperture. The kick shoe includes a second sole having a ground engaging face and a lateral edge extending from an outer boundary of the face, and an interchangeable kick part enveloping the face and the edge at a toe portion of the second sole.
The present invention further provides a slide shoe for a pair of bowling shoes. The slide shoe comprises a sole and a heel fixedly attached to the sole; a frame overlying and being fixedly attached to the sole, the frame and a portion of the sole having substantially congruent respective outer perimeters, the frame defining a central aperture; and an interchangeable slide pad being inset within and substantially occluding the central aperture, the slide pad including at least one cleat arrangement received in a corresponding hole defined by the slide pad.
The present invention yet further provides a kick shoe for a pair of bowling shoes. The kick shoe comprises a sole having a ground engaging face and a lateral edge extending from an outer boundary of the face, and an interchangeable kick part enveloping the face and the edge at a toe portion of the sole.
The present invention additionally provides a method of customizing ground engagement of a pair of bowling shoes. The method comprises providing a sliding shoe including a first sole and a first heel fixedly attached to the first sole, and a frame overlying and being fixedly attached to the first sole, the frame and a portion of the first sole having substantially congruent respective outer perimeters, the frame defining a central aperture; inserting within the central aperture a selected one of a set of interchangeable slide pads, the selected slide pad substantially occluding the central aperture and having a first selected ground engaging coefficient of friction relative to the frame; providing a kick shoe including a second sole having a ground engaging face and a lateral edge extending from an outer boundary of the face; and applying to a toe portion of the second sole a selected one of a set of interchangeable kick parts, the selected kick part enveloping the face and the edge at the toe portion of the second sole and having a second selected ground engaging coefficient of friction relative to the second sole.